Mini has facelifted its red-hot Countryman JCW with tweaked looks and better tech.
A facelifted version of the range-topping MINI Countryman John Cooper Works SUV has been revealed. It follows on from the firm’s recently revised standard crossover, and it shares a similar range of cosmetic and technology updates.
First deliveries of the revised Countryman John Cooper Works will arrive in Europe in November and, when the first example gets here, it’ll offer fresh competition for the Audi SQ2 and the Volkswagen T-Roc R.
Like the standard facelifted Countryman, the Cooper Works model gets a new radiator grille and updated LED headlamps. The outgoing model’s optional Piano Black styling package is also now included as standard, swapping the old car’s chrome headlamp trim, rear light bezels, grille surround and door handles for gloss black replacements.
In addition, buyers now have their choice of two new paint finishes – Sage Green metallic and White Silver metallic. MINI has also enlarged the diameter of the crossover’s twin-exit exhaust tips to 95mm each.
The range-topping Countryman’s interior revisions are identical to those of the standard crossover. There’s a new 5.0-inch digital instrument cluster lifted from the MINI Electric hatchback, some Piano Black trim for the dashboard and door cards and two new leather upholstery colours – Indigo Blue and Chester Malt Brown.
It’s powered by the same turbocharged 225kW/450Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine as the outgoing model. The powertrain is mated to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic gearbox, for a claimed 0–100km/h time of 5.1 seconds and a top speed of 150km/h.
To complement the powertrain, buyers also get wider 18-inch alloy wheels, stiffer sports suspension, a locking front differential, an improved stability control system and larger disc brakes with four-piston fixed calipers up front and single-piston floating calipers at the rear. MINI also offers adaptive dampers as an optional extra.
Pricing and timing for Australia are yet to be an announcement, however, it will likely arrive with the rest of the updated MY20 range late-2020.
Luke Wilkinson